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Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Well, we made it. I tell you, we couldn't have picked a more peaceful time for our vacation! We were on the very first flight after the hurricane passed through Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. The airport had power, a few grocery stores had intermittent power, the liquor store had a generator (YAY!) so we did just fine. Jeff's aunt & uncle and their boat all passed through the storm relatively unharmed. They were all a bit worn down, beat up but liveable. We added our survival food & water to the boat's storage, stocked up on some beer & rum and hit the waters. We still had a rainstorm each day, but they passed through pretty quickly.

Everyone was exhausted, so we went to a different small island each day and Jeff and I would snorkel a bit, explore a bit, look for shells and nap. Lots and lots of napping! There's nothing like sitting, knitting on a sailboat while floating in a harbour of teal blue waters. NOTHING! I'm so glad everything worked out for the best, and I have to selfishly say I'm very glad I didn't end up as shark bait either! It was also good that we had a boat to stay on as most of the resorts were closed down while we were there. I think the first shop we saw open was on the day we left.

I finished the short sleeves on my featherweight lace cardi, but never actually wore it as it never got too chilly at night. The rest of the time I knit on my 2nd silk citron out of crafty-in-a-good-way 100% silk. mmmmmmm Have I let you know I'm on a quest to find more of this yarn? If ANYONE knows of more of it, I'm desperate to get my hands on some!! I cant stop knitting citron's out of the stuff and have Christmas presents on my mind!

The sunsets out there were so beautiful, it just took my breath away.

Here's my version of a Bahama sunset, with mohair. Because everything's better with mohair!

I did do some snorkeling and only had one minor freakout. Jeff pointed out there wasn't as many fish out there since most of them had washed or swum to calmer, deeper waters. You'd think that would be a comforting thought, but then I thought about the fish that would be left would be VERY HUNGRY. :) I really belong ON the boat, not IN the water. The rough seas did leave amazing shells on some of the beaches. We came home with a small conch shell for each kid plus a couple for ourselves. The guy in the airport working the xray machine over the bags called me over on the way back to the US. I thought, "oh crap!" to myself. He just said, "Ma'am, did you leave ANY shells on the beach at all?" I said, "yes, all the ugly ones." On the way over, I was randomly selected at ALL THREE airports we passed through for special screening. I was patted down phsyically in KC, had the wand passed over me while I was pulled off to the side in Houston and then my hands were tested for explosives in Ft. Lauderdale. We knitters must look like danger or something.

Thanks again for good thoughts & prayers. I'm SO GLAD Jeff's family AND their boat (their entire livelihood and home) were all OK. We visited the wrecks of the sailboats that stayed in Marsh Harbour while there. It wasn't pretty. No deaths in the Bahamas through the storm, a true miracle!!